Anti-Bacterial Hand Moisturiser

Alcohol based hand washes are effective at killing bacteria, the same goes for soap and water if you have time. But after discovering that a large number of nurses and practitioners were reporting skin problems due to repeated use of alcohol on their hands, we set out to make a natural anti-bacterial cleanser that protected the skin, whilst being as effective as alcohol in a time kill study.

Cover-Up Buttercup SPF 15 Natural Moisturiser 200g

Why do we Make a Natural SPF 15 Moisturiser?

A natural SPF 15 cream still provides very good sun protection (SPF 15 means 94% of UV blocked) whilst not requiring as much clear Zinc and other ingredients so that it has better skin feel. SPF above 15 provides diminishing returns as explained below.

Our Coverup Buttercup is natural and healthy for the skin and provides long lasting production without using UV Filters or pentration enhancers.

About SPF

SPF Rating and % of UV Radiation Protected

A higher SPF rating requires a lot more sunscreen chemical for diminishing returns. SPF 15 blocks 93% while SPF 30 blocks 97%. SPF 15 means that for someone that would typically burn within 15 minutes of direct sun, it should take 4 hours when protected by SPF 15. SPF 30 would take 8 hours of sun. The amount of protection in reality depends upon both the SPF rating and the thickness or amount which is applied.

(The other way to argue this is that SPF 15 allows 7% of UV through, while SPF 30 allows 3%, so a reduction of 50%. It depends how you do the maths.)

How Sun Protection Works

There are two main types of sunscreens. Firstly natural sunscreens that use Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide as a physical barrier that reflect the sun. The second type use "UV Filters" that absorb high energy UV radiation and emit low energy radiation.

Physical Barriers to UV

Like a hat or shade, a cream containing the Zinc Oxide reflects the UV radiation away. Most Zinc Oxide barriers block both UVB and UVA.

Zinc Oxide would normally be white on the skin. We use a special type of Zinc Oxide that is made here in Australia that is dispersed within Jojoba Oil which helps make it clear and non-greasy.

Like a hat or shade, they simply reflect the UV radiation away. As a physical blocker, Zinc Oxide naturally reflects both UVA and UVB.

UV Absorbing Filter Sunscreens

These are various chemicals that absorb high energy UV radiation and re-emit it as low radiation.

Sunscreens are "therapeutic products" and so their safety or efficacy cannot be questioned. The way to get information is to spend 15 minutes doing your own research to help choose the right sunscreen for you. Wikipedia, although not always accurate, has a very good page on sunscreen and well worth getting the facts. Try and read at least from half way down the page. Link to Wikipedia on Sunscreen here.

(Bear in mind that up to 2/3rds of Australians are Vitamin D deficient. Only around 15 minutes of sunshine is required 2-3 times a week for the average person to obtain correct amounts of Vitamin D).

What is CoverUp Buttercup?

We have chosen only to use clear zinc oxide in a cream that is designed to be a natural moisturizer. We also wanted a natural non-greasy cream that can be used on infants and adults every day. This is personally what we prefer to use at home. But making a cream this way does mean some compromise in the amount of SPF that can be achieved. SPF 15 will provide protection for 4 hours for someone who would normally burn in 15 minutes.

Because it is based on the Full Cream moisturiser, it is very healthy for the skin, not packed with chemicals. It is of course perfect for babies.

Directions

Just apply the cream as a moisturiser before going into the sun. All natural products should be patch tested before use. Perfect for infants as well as adults.

Hi, I received your order the other day and yesterday my son and I went to play group with an animal show and then water themed activities outside in the sun with 32 deg temps. I covered my 2year old and myself with Coverup buttercup and I am totally amazed with the results. Being an SPF 15+ I was not sure. We were out in the sun and water for almost two hours and neither of us got burnt or even red. It was lovely to put on being a moisturiser, and it soaked in and I loved using it on my son knowing they consisted of edible ingredients. I got some red burn marks but that was because I missed a spot when applying it! Oops. Thanks for such a great product which makes me confident using it on my young family.

Ioanna

Note from MooGoo: We didn't design Buttercup to be waterproof as that would mean an oily waterproof film on the skin which is something we don’t like the feel of. But we are glad it worked as well for Ioanna as we find it works for us.

Ingredients

(We are proud to list ALL ingredients on our website, not just the most natural sounding ones.)

When we were told that we have to call our purified water “Aqua” we thought they were kidding. But we can’t fight bureaucracy. So we aren’t trying to be fancy, but we do need to call our water “Aqua” sometimes.

Zinc Oxide

A natural sun protection barrier. We strongly encourage people to start researching the ingredients in the sunscreen they choose.

Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil

Jojoba Oil is one of the most moisturising skin care oils around and is one of our all-time favourite moisturising oils. It is light and sinks into the skin easily.

Squalene (Olive)

One of our favourite moisturising oils. It helps leave your skin moisturised and dewy. It is good for all skin types, including acne prone skin.

Since Olive squalene's composition is very similar to human sebum, it can penetrate our skin very quickly to help our skin to fight dryness. It enhances skin elasticity and moisture retention.

Coco-Caprylate (Coconut Based Conditioner)

This coconut oil derived ingredients gives the skin a smooth finish. It is an alternative to the silicones uses in many creams.

Cetearyl Glucoside

An Emulsifier is what holds all the various water, oils and extracts together. Cetearyl Glucoside is a glucose based emulsifier which fits in with our philosophy of using food based ingredients in our skin care whenever we can.

Cetearyl Alcohol (Plant Based Emulsifying Wax)

Creams are made from a mix of purified water and oils so as to be more moisturising than oil alone. To hold water and oils together, they need an emulsifying wax. We use a plant based wax that allows the water and oils to stay together.

Glyceryl Isostearate

This is a Glycerin based ingredient that helps soften and smooth the skin, while also helping prevent water loss.

Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E)

We use the more expensive, natural Vitamin E in our creams, not synthetic. Natural Vitamin E has up to twice the bioavailability of synthetic forms.

Polyhydroystearic Acid

This ingredient is needed to keep the Zinc we use in our cream evenly dispersed. (It wouldn’t help anyone if it all dropped to the bottom of the cream.)

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice (Aloe Vera)

Most people already know the cooling and soothing benefits of Aloe Vera. We loved it before we made skin care, and we love it in our creams.

Rubus Idaeus (Red Raspberry) Seed Oil

A beautiful anti-oxidant oil that also has some natural SPF properties. It is red, obviously, so turns the cream an off-white colour.

Piroctone Olamine

Piroctone Olamine is an anti-yeast ingredient. Non-irritating, it helps keep the cream free from bacteria and mould.

Allantoin

Allantoin said to clean away dead tissue, allowing the growth of new healthy tissue.

Guar Gum

We use a modified guar ingredient sometimes called Guar Silk. It helps make the skin nice and smooth after using our creams.

Sodium Stearyl Glutamate (Coconut Derived Emulsifier)

This keeps the water and oils together. We find sunscreens that are only made from oils very heavy on the skin…like oil can be. So we have chosen to do an oil emulsion.

Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract

Cosmetic creams need to stay pure from bacteria. That is why ingredients like Parabens etc are used by a lot of companies. These work great at achieving their aim, but a lot of our “customers” prefer not to use them. We worked for over a year to develop a preservation system based on Hop Extract. All our creams have now been checked for preservative efficacy using the British Pharmacopeia test. We are very proud that we are probably one of the first companies to develop this natural and edible anti-bacterial system into our creams.

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